Votaz Announces Its Blockchain Voting Platform Meets Federal Guidelines

A five-month testing period of mobile voting platform Voatz concluded that the company’s platform meets U.S. Election Assistance Commission requirements for U.S. voting systems.

Earlier this year, Voatz received blame for partial and unreliable results during the February 2020 Iowa caucuses, prompting this audit.

The company denied responsibility, stating that the Iowa Democratic Party used a Shadow-developed app to tabulate in-person caucus votes. Votem — another blockchain-powered voting firm — concurred that Voatz was not responsible for the issues during the caucuses.

Voatz Passes Stringent Testing & Audit

Independent, federally-certified Voting System Test Laboratory (VSTL) Pro V&V tested the Voatz Remote Accessible Ballot Delivery, Marketing and Return (RABDMR) System.

The VSTL’s 47-page report evaluated Voatz’s security, source code, and system integration. The security audit verified that the company uses a blockchain-based infrastructure. Pro V&V verified controls and measures complied with security standards and concluded that the system successfully:

• Protected critical elements of the voting system
• Established and maintained controls to minimize errors
• Offered safeguards against intentional manipulation, fraud, and malicious mischief
• Identified fraudulent or erroneous changes to the voting system
• Protected voters’ secrecy

The testing also analyzed the use of the mobile app of smartphone accessibility tools such as screen readers, voice control, and language capabilities.

See also: Blockchain for Master Data Management

Prior to the 2020 Iowa Caucuses, the Voatz platform, designed for military personnel, disabled, and other non-traditional voting groups, had performed well in 67 elections including 11 governmental elections.

”We are pleased with Pro V&V’s conclusions that Voatz operates exactly as it’s designed to operate,” says Nimit Sawhney, Voatz co-founder and CEO. “Their fundings confirm our expectations, and add further fuel to support our mission that citizens can vote securely using a smartphone application and have total confidence their ballot is counted while remaining fully secret.”